SOUTHERN ILLINOIS FIELD FIRE CONTROLLED BEFORE REACHING HOMES

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Firefighters from three Southern Illinois fire districts battled a blaze Wednesday afternoon that consumed 500 acres of land and threatened a petroleum pipeline.

The fire began in a field about 3.5 miles south of the Illinois routes 3 and 146 intersection. The blaze likely started from a cigarette butt tossed out near the Duke Energy natural gas pipeline. The fire burned for about three hours before crews got it under control.

The property is owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Dry conditions and winds pushed the fire toward Reiman Road, and heavy smoke billowed into the sky, creating a shadow over the heads of firefighters working to put out the blaze.

The fire crackled and popped as Wolf Lake firefighters hosed down a section of the field. Wildflowers and thistle stood tall in the wind as the flames moved toward them near the road.

Crews from the McClure-East Cape, Wolf Lake and Horseshoe Lake fire districts worked to extinguish the fire, sometimes stopping to put out hot spots that reignited.

Stanley Mouser, fire chief for the McClure-East Cape district, said the weather "was ideal for a fire but not for a firefighter."

The weather has been too dry, and the fire could go have gone just about anywhere. He predicted even drier weather later in the summer and plenty of no-burn orders.

Most of the rural districts in the area aren't equipped for big field fires, he said. They don't have "brush buggies" or fire hydrants nearby, so water has to be brought in on trucks.

More than 3,000 gallons of water was taken to the site Wednesday. The last fire hydrant on the water line in East Cape Girardeau sat about one-half mile from the spot where the fire began.

When firefighters respond to such calls, they have to consider which direction the blaze is moving and "size up the situation," Mouser said. "We have to consider human life and real estate."

The fire threatened two houses farther down Reiman Road, an Alexander County road that had recently been renamed with the 911 system. The McHughs family had been in Olive Branch for the afternoon when they came home to see smoke billowing near their home.

"It was very scary. We had to consider whether to drive all the way around or go through the smoke," said a nearby property owner.

Firefighters worked to push the fire back against the wind. "You don't worry about what's behind you because that's already burned," Mouser said.

Most of the brush and saplings will grow back quick enough that people won't even know a fire ravaged the field, firefighters said. "It can be both good and bad," Mouser said.